Beginning the College Hunt, Part IV

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a new frontrunner in the college sweepstakes.

After touring Arizona State on Monday, David announced that it is now his favorite among the four he's now toured (W&M, U of Arizona, and in distant fourth, Berkeley, round out the list). He likes the feel of the campus and the flexibility with which ASU appears to treat its students: he can build an anthropology degree as a BA or as a BS, and he can focus it towards particular areas (like archaeology), and he can double-major or minor in Native American studies to complement it (or he can minor in Theatre Design and Production). And I think he also likes that ASU's admissions process is noncompetitive (you either meet the thresholds or you don't), and that the freshman dorm for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (read: anthro majors live here) is the brand-newly-remodeled 15-story Manzanita Hall, overlooking the football stadium on one side and campus on the other.

Manzanita Hall (rear) and Palo Verde East dorms

On the ASU bridge, looking back towards dorms and the stadiums.

Palm Walk, the main north-south pathway through campus

He doesn't seem to mind that Tempe and Phoenix are a much busier place; or, that the campus was (or felt to me) a bit crowded--although even at class change, the crowds were very reasonable, despite the size of the school. He also doesn't seem fazed about being one of 9,000+ freshmen--although perhaps that will give others pause.

He does caution, though, that he still wants to see the others on his list--UVA, Radford, and Wake Forest, and last night Texas A&M made a return to the wish list. But if he had to pick right now, my son would want to become a Sun Devil. What will his final pick be? Stay tuned…we've a long way until next fall!